A guy over at the M8 board posted the following question: Has anyone done a comparison between a stock CVO 110 motor and the M8? Either by dyno, or seat of the pants comparison? And then, how do the same above compare if each is given similar stage 1 upgrades? Sorry in advance if this has been posted before. It seems that it would be, but I haven't seen it.


Could you CVO owners respond to the listed responses below from that question regarding the CVO engines not holding up very well?


I can't offer anything by numbers, but the stock CVO 110 track record has not been a great engine. Used to hear of a lot of lifter, cylinder issues. Not sure that's still true but a coworker of mine just had his rebuilt for the second time in 50,000 miles. He's mentioned a bunch of times how the CVO forums are full of those types of issues.

Join the CVO forum and search out valve spring pressure, lifters, and cam bearings. You won't find a million grenades, just too much spring pressure destroys garbage lifters, then wipes out the rest. There are a lot of easy fixes if you are a conservative rider, but 9.2:1 compression makes it easy to convince yourself to do more "while you're in there".

I had an 09 CVO Road Glide. 46K miles and the lifters failed requiring a top end rebuild. Traded it for a 12 CVO Road Glide. I had no lifter issues with it, but did have regulator and compensator issues. Traded it with 45K on if for a 15 CVO Road Glide Ultra. At 44K miles the lifters failed and took out the Motor. The bike was covered by factory warranty, over 6K to replace the motor.

My best Friends 15 CVO Road glide ultra had the motor replaced a 18 months old with 36K on it, again lifter failure to out the motor. Summer of 15 five of us road out to CA, OR and WA from TN. My friends 14 CVO Limited had a lifter failure going up MT Raineer. Took two days for Yakima to rebuild the top end under warranty, only 21K on the bike.

People who ride 20K or more a year find the failures quick. HD knows of the issues, bad valve train angles and high valve spring pressure. They also know 90% or more of the people will never have failure while the bike is under warranty. Takes most people years to get to 20K miles, most failures are over 30K miles.

 

Without numbers,how can the 110 be judged? I would like to know the failure rate.what percentage of the 110's built had issues? Just sayin.

 

Talk needs numbers for sure to validate that talk. I wanted to hear from those who actually own a CVO 110 for I would like to buy a Pro Street Breakout and customize it.

 

I just bought a new 2016 roadglide ultra cvo. I only have 2000 miles on it.I would like to hear from others with many more miles than I have.so far my bike runs great,bUT it has very few miles.I myself can't make a comparison with the new m8.

 

I just went to a Demo Truck day. I didn't try a CVO 110, but did ride several M8s and a Fatboy S with the 110. I loved them both, but the seat-of-the-pants dyno preferred the M8.

On both bikes, (Fatboy S and Roadglide Special) I tried accelerating at what would have been low enough RPMs to bog down a 103. Both pulled out fine, but the 107 seemed stronger and smoother. The engine produced a lot less heat too (the 110 was pretty warm).

Both were smooth*, torquey and thoroughly satisfying

I just liked the M8 better.. but it was just a 20 minute demo on each one.

*Edit: unlike a 110 CVO, the Fatboy S 110 is counter balanced, it is probably smoother than the rubber mounted 110 on a CVO

 

I have a 2010 CVO Ultra Stage IV 110 and a 2017 CVO Limited Stage IV 117. 60,000 miles on the 2010 and 4000 on the 2017. The 2010 is dynoed st 123/123 SAE . They are definitely different rides. The 2010 has a 2/1 Fatcat, headwork and a Woods 408cam. The 2017 has CNC ported heads, HD's SE 515 cam and Street Cannons.

The 2017 is more "sophisticated", smoother, more stable, relatively quiet, fast, comfortable, easily rips on the highway or twisties without thinking twice. The 2010 is visceral, loud, raw, fast, obnoxious, tire shedder. The TP is detachable so I ride it like a Streetglide. The 2017 is setup more for long distance.

The 2010 build was great for 55k miles but eventually the hard ride pounding resulted in a piston rod spinning a tapered bushing. So I had the engine rebuilt at 55k. Both are great bikes. So great that when I bought the 2017, I couldn't bear the thought of selling the 2010 Twin Cam. Both are great bikes but very different rides.

I'd rather be on the 2017 for long distance or really fast speeds in sweeping curves. But I'd rather be on the 2010 for local bike night, big bike rallies or ripping up long running twisties.

 

With history of 110, it is not on my radar for purchase, new or used.

 

I recently swapped my 2013 Ultra CVO for a 2017 Ultra Low with the 107 M8 engine. The CVO had a Stage 4 kit with 125hp and 132fbs of torque. The CVO was a beast but the M8 is great. Felt torque at low speeds is very strong and bike pulls very hard even at higher rims. I don't plan on making any engine upgrades. Best money I ever spent and best Harley I've ever ridden and I've been riding for fifty years. I'm 5' 8" with a 30" inseam. I can stand over the bike in low quarter shoes and still have 4 to 5 inches of clearance between the seat and my crotch. Plus the new suspension is remarkable. They almost completely eliminated front end dive when you get on the front brake hard. Very stable, particularly at slower speeds. If you do a test ride you'll buy one. I made the mistake of riding one and had to have it.

 

I've had 4 cvo's since 2005 and have had no issues with any of them outside of normal maintenance items. I did have a inner bearing go bad on a 2009 Ultra that was not a cvo. I currently have a 2010 CVO SG that is one of my favorite bikes of the 26 I've owned over 43 years. I ride them hard and fast but maintain them by the book. Riding café racers in my youth taught me a humbling lesson, most riders never come close to using the ability built into high performance bikes. Being in the right gear at the right rpm in any situation makes a bigger difference in performance than few more horsepower.

 

I have a 2015 RGU CVO with 22K on it. No mechanical issues at all. Had a gill vent that had to be replaced and a tour pack issue but those were the only problems to date.